identify which patients could be more easily treated in the community, reducing the pressure on the NHS and helping patients receive treatment closer to home

identify patients most at risk of diseases such as heart disease or dementia, allowing for earlier diagnosis and cheaper, more focused, personalised prevention

build systems to detect people at risk of post-operative complications, infections or requiring follow-up from clinicians, improving patient safety and reducing readmission rates

upskill the NHS workforce so they can use AI systems for day-to-day tasks

inspect algorithms already used by the NHS to increase the standards of AI safety, making systems fairer, more robust and ensuring patient confidentiality is protected

automate routine admin tasks to free up clinicians so more time can be spent with patients

Simon Stevens, NHS England Chief Executive, said that “carefully targeted AI is now ready for practical application in health services”.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said:

We are on the cusp of a huge health tech revolution that could transform patient experience by making the NHS a truly predictive, preventive and personalised health and care service.

I am determined to bring the benefits of technology to patients and staff, so the impact of our NHS Long Term Plan and this immediate, multimillion pound cash injection are felt by all. It’s part of our mission to make the NHS the best it can be.

The experts tell us that because of our NHS and our tech talent, the UK could be the world leader in these advances in healthcare, so I’m determined to give the NHS the chance to be the world leader in saving lives through artificial intelligence and genomics.

The Health Secretary’s praise for the AI Lab is perhaps unsurprising, give that he recently put his name to a report written by the ethically dubious Taxpayers’ Alliance entitled ‘Automate the State’.

It’s also worth noting that earlier this year Health Education England, on behalf of the NHS, published an independent review into the health service’s digital future, which highlighted the need for a “binding code of conduct” for NHS staff implementing AI.